JERUSALEM — Smart Shooter is headed to France and Spain to pitch its fire control systems to governments interested in counter-drone technology and bolstering their homeland security forces. The Israeli company is known for its SMASH family of solutions, and has already arrived in Paris with its Smash 2000 Plus and Smash Hopper light remote-controlled weapon station.
The company’s SMASH family of solutions can be integrated onto assault rifles, and the business specializes in what it calls “one shot, one hit” capabilities to confront small UAV threats, meaning that the system controls the fire of the rifle so that each shot is released when the moving target is in the sight.
European countries have been searching for more solutions against increasing drone threats. These include systems to counter small civilian quadcopters as well as larger UAVs. The U.S. has also encouraged European partners to increase defenses against drones.
The U.S. Marine Corps acquired the Smash 2000 system in October through its Rapid Capabilities Office to test the system, and the U.S. Navy is currently evaluating the technology for counter-drone requirements on vessels. The system is a kinetic solution that enables personnel to engage drones using a rifle, as opposed to other counter-drone systems that use radar and optics to jam the threat signal.
Smash Hopper, a light weight remote control unit, can hold a weapon for deployment along a border fence or on vehicles, noted Sharone Aloni, vice president for research and development and Smart Shooter.
Aloni added that the company already uses artificial intelligence, and he foresees the use of more deep-learning techniques to improve target detection and tracking.
The Milipol homeland security conference will take place Oct. 19-22 in Paris, and the FEINDEF defense expo will take place Nov. 3-5 in Madrid.
Seth J. Frantzman is the Israel correspondent for Defense News. He has covered conflict in the Mideast since 2010 for different publications. He has experience covering the international coalition against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, and he is a co-founder and executive director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis.
